Michelle's Journey
by Laney 916
Summary: Michelle has a rare, aggressive brain tumor and the Tanners are in a fight to save her life. Rated T for language and subject matter that may not be suitable for younger audiences. UNDER NEW OWNERSHIP, SO THIS IS NO LONGER BEING UPDATED HERE.
1. Chapter 1

_Summary: Michelle has a rare, aggressive brain tumor and the Tanners are in a fight to save her life. Rated T for language and subject matter that may not be suitable for younger audiences._

_Disclaimer: I don't own Full House. I make no money off this. However, I do own Michelle's new friend Jade and any other characters, except Emily (Michelle's other new friend) and her mom. They are owned by blossom2012._

_Thanks to blossom2012 for betaing this, giving me some ideas and letting me borrow her characters! :)_

* * *

**Michelle's Journey**

_**by Laney M.**_

Chapter 1

- _July 24, 1995, Afternoon -_

The Tanner family was at the park. Joey, Michelle, and her friends Teddy, Aaron, Lisa, and Derek decided they wanted to play a game of tag.

"Not it!" Aaron shouted.

"Not it!" Teddy, Lisa, Derek, and Joey agreed.

"Ok, you're it, Michelle!" Joey said. "Ready? 1-2-3 Go!" They ran around in all different directions as Michelle began chasing after them. She soon caught up with Derek and was about to tag him when she began to feel off balance. As she reached her arms out to him, her legs gave out and she fell to the ground.

"Michelle! Are you alright?" Derek asked, his voice filled with deep concern.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Thanks Derek."

"Michelle! Michelle!" The others called out as they ran towards her.

"I'm ok, guys. Lets keep playing!" Everyone scattered in different directions again and Michelle chased them. She finally managed to catch Joey. "Got ya, Joey! Now, you're it!" She said, giggling as she ran away.

They played and played some more until they heard Danny's voice calling towards them.

"Guys, time to go!" They met up with Danny and the rest of the family, dropped off Michelle's friends, and walked home.

* * *

_- Evening -_

"Michelle, dinner!" Jesse called, knocking on the door of the bedroom Michelle shared with her sister Stephanie.

"Ok, Uncle Jesse." She replied. She followed her uncle into the kitchen and took her seat. She grabbed a slice of extra cheese pizza and a few chicken wings and got up to get something to drink. She started to feel off balance again and everyone watched in horror as she stumbled, but she grabbed onto the counter just in time.

"Whoa! What just happened?" Danny asked her, helping her back to her chair.

"It's nothing, Daddy. I just fell." She told him.

"You've been falling an awful lot today, Michelle." D.J pointed out.

"Maybe I'm just tired. Daddy, may I please be excused?"

"Sure, Sweetheart." He hugged her and she walked back up to her room and flopped down on her bed. Comet jumped up and laid next to her and they fell asleep.

* * *

- _July 25th, Morning_-

Michelle's head was pounding. It was the worst pain she had ever felt in the eight, almost nine years she'd been on the Earth. She massaged it, hoping it would bring her relief, but it didn't help and she went downstairs to the living room to find some Children's Tylenol.

"Good morning, Michelle." Rebecca greeted.

"Morning, Aunt Becky." Rebecca noticed her niece holding her hands on her head and moved the folder containing her notes for Wake Up San Francisco, then motioned for her to sit down. "Aunt Becky, do we have some Tylenol? My head hurts."

"I think so. Let me check." Michelle laid down on the couch and waited while her aunt searched for the bottle of medication.

Meanwhile in the kitchen, Danny stood by the stove, stirring a large bowl of pancake batter and pouring some of it onto a stove top griddle.

"Danny, do we have any more Children's Tylenol left? Michelle said she has a headache." The color drained from Danny's face.

"Uh...yeah...in the medicine cabinet in my bathroom."

He rushed into the living room and sat with Michelle, not realizing that he left the griddle on, burning the pancakes.

Danny saw his little girl laying on the couch. Danny thought back to when Michelle was in the hospital after her accident a few months ago when she fell off her horse.

As Rebecca came back to the kitchen she saw the stove on and turned it off. She scraped the burnt batter off the griddle, then placed the unused batter in the fridge to be cooked later.

"You left the stove on." Rebecca reminded him as she came back into the living room and put the Tylenol bottle in his hand.

"Oh crap!" Danny exclaimed and jumped out of his seat to clean up the mess.

"Danny it's okay. I cleaned up."

"Thanks Becky." He replied as he went into the kitchen and filled a glass with water, then returned to the living room and handed it to his daughter, along with two of the pills. Michelle took the pills with a few sips of water and after giving her father and Aunt Becky a kiss, she went back upstairs to rest.

- Afternoon -

D.J and Stephanie were preparing a lunch of turkey sandwiches, salad, and tomato soup. Danny and Rebecca were at work after going in late, but would be home at any time now, Jesse was practicing with the other members of Hot Daddy and the Monkey Puppets in his studio, and Joey was rehearsing in his room for an upcoming comedy gig while Michelle and the twins Nicky and Alex were taking a nap.

Stephanie finished setting the table and D.J took the steaming pot of soup off the stove.

"Stephanie, go tell everyone lunch is ready, ok?" D.J instructed.

"No problem." Stephanie rounded up Jesse, Joey, and the twins, but as she went to wake Michelle, nothing could have prepared her for what happened next.

She screamed as she saw Michelle jerking and shaking violently on her bed. Jesse and Joey heard the commotion and ran into the room and their hearts raced as they rushed to Michelle's side.

"Call 911, Steph!" Joey ordered. Stephanie did as she was told and within a few minutes, paramedics arrived and tried the best they could to stabilize her. They carried her to the ambulance and Jesse rode with her to the hospital while Joey and the rest of the family followed behind, calling Danny and Rebecca on the way there.

At the hospital, the E.R team paged the doctor on call, who rushed into Michelle's room. He filled a syringe with more medications and injected it into the I.V bag. Gradually, the seizures stopped and he ordered an MRI.

As Michelle was getting ready to be taken for the scan, Danny and Rebecca arrived. Danny ran to Michelle and whispered some things in her ear and held her hands. A nurse reassured him that the doctor would do his best to save her and Danny said his good-byes before she was taken away.

Later that afternoon, the results of the MRI were in. The doctor gulped as he took a hard look at the scans of Michelle's brain. Something strange caught his eye.

"Mr. Tanner?" He called as he stepped into the waiting room with the scans in his hands. The family sat there, anxiously waiting for what he had to say.

"Yeah, that's me." Danny replied. "What's wrong with my daughter?"

"Unfortunately, the news isn't good. She has a tumor in her brain stem the size of a golf ball."

"Will she make it?" Jesse asked, his voice breaking as he wiped the tears from his eyes with a handkerchief.

"I cannot answer that for sure, but most patients with her type of cancer survive less than a year."

"What about treatment?" Stephanie questioned.

"Because of the location of the tumor, surgery isn't an option, but with radiation and chemotherapy, it could buy her some time. I'm very sorry."

When the doctor left, everyone gathered together in a group hug and they sobbed and cried. At less than four years old, the twins were still too young to understand the situation, but they said, "We love you" as they joined in on the hugs.

_- Evening -_

Danny sat at Michelle's bedside in the Intensive Care Unit. She was improving now, though still sleeping until the effects of the anti-seizure drugs wore off.

"Michelle, stay strong, baby. We aren't ready for you to go yet, okay? Please hang in there!" He held her hand as tears fell down his cheeks, hitting the bed sheets.

_- July 26, Morning -_

Michelle's eyes fluttered open and she took a look around the room. Where was she? How did she get here? She glanced down at her right arm and noticed the I.V.

"Daddy!" She screamed out.

"I'm here, Sweetheart. It's okay." Danny hugged her, running his fingers over her back to comfort her.

"Where am I?"

"You're in the hospital. The doctors and nurses are taking very good care of you."

"What am I doing here? I want to go home!" A lump formed in Danny's throat as he struggled to come up with an explanation for her.

"Sweetie, you're very sick." He finally said, his voice breaking.

"But I don't feel sick right now. How can that be?"

"I know, but sometimes things don't appear the way they really are."

"Daddy, just tell me!"

"The doctor took some pictures of your brain when you first got here and it doesn't look good."

"What's wrong with my brain?"

"You have a tumor." Michelle cried and Danny handed her a Kleenex to dry the tears.

"Am I going to die?" Danny agonized on whether or not to tell his youngest daughter that this tumor would eventually take her life.

"Honey, we are going to fight this, okay? There are medicines out there that makes tumors shrink or go away. It's up to you if you want to try them though. I won't force you."

"I'll give them a shot. This tumor's going to turn into dust!"

"It sure is!"

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_Next chapter coming up soon! This is the first fic I've written in like 4 years. Hope you like it!_


	2. Chapter 2

**Michelle's Journey**

Chapter 2

_- July 28, Morning -_

Three days passed since Michelle's diagnosis and she had just taken her first dose of chemotherapy as well as a steroid to reduce the swelling caused by the tumor. So far, she was tolerating the pills well and Danny finally breathed a sigh of relief. Michelle was feeling better and more energetic and the doctor had given her permission to go to the playroom. She jumped up excitedly at this news.

"Daddy, Daddy! Can you take me to the playroom? Please!" She begged.

"Sure." He replied with a chuckle. They got on the elevator and took it down to the next floor where the playroom was located. Michelle's eyes grew wide as she saw the large quantity of toys and craft stuff and sat down at a table with two other little girls. One had green eyes and patches of red hair on her otherwise bald head. Michelle guessed that she was about six years old. The other girl was around Michelle's age and had hazel eyes and sandy blond hair.

"Hi, My name is Michelle. What's yours?" Michelle greeted.

"My name is Jade." The green eyed girl answered shyly.

"I'm Emily." The other girl added. Danny watched as Michelle, Jade, and Emily talked and shared their toys.

As the three girls got to know each other, Michelle learned that Jade had Acute Myeloid Leukemia and spent most of her life in and out of the hospital and her cancer, which had been in remission for almost a year, returned again, while Emily had the same tumor as Michelle and had been diagnosed a few months ago. Michelle's heart filled up with pain and sadness for her new friends.

_'Stupid cancer!'_ She thought.

Meanwhile, Danny was so focused on watching his daughter play that he didn't notice at first when a young light brown haired, green eyed woman in her mid-thirties said something to him.

"Excuse me? Danny Tanner?" She asked as she tapped his shoulder, causing him to jump slightly.

"Huh?"

"You're Danny Tanner of Wake Up, San Francisco, aren't you?" Another woman asked.

"Yes, I am."

"We love your show. We watch it every morning." The brunette complemented.

"Thank you. I'm very glad to hear that, Ms..." He started, not knowing her name.

"I'm Susan. Susan Crawford."

"I'm Mary Richardson." The other woman, who appeared to be in her late twenties and had red hair with blue eyes, added as she shook Danny's hand.

"Nice to meet you both, Ladies. Are those your daughters over there?" He pointed to Emily and Jade who were helping Michelle put jigsaw puzzles together.

"Yes, Jade is mine. She is six and a half." Mary replied, smiling as she glanced over at the girls.

"Emily is my little girl. She's eight." Susan said. "How old is yours?"

"Michelle will be nine in November."

Danny, Susan, and Mary talked about their children and the girls played some more until Michelle came over, looking a bit tired.

"Daddy, can we go back to my room now?"

"Yeah, sure. Go tell your friends you'll see them another time."

"Okay." Michelle grinned and said her good-byes to Emily and Jade, then she and her father returned to her room to take a nap.

* * *

_- July 28, Afternoon -_

Michelle sat up nervously in her bed, coloring pictures for her friends while waiting to go to her radiology appointment.

"Those look amazing, Honey." Danny complemented as his youngest daughter finished her masterpieces.

"Thanks Dad. Umm...Why did Jade and Emily have to get sick too? They're just little kids."

"Because that's how life works sometimes. Did you know that we all have cancer cells in our bodies?" She shook her head no and he continued to explain. "Well, most of us have strong enough immune systems to attack them and keep us healthy, but Jade and Emily's immune systems are weaker so they weren't able to fight them off as well so the cancer cells continue to multiply."

"Oh. Are they going to get better?"

"I don't know, Sweetie. But their doctors are trying everything they can to make them better, just like your doctor is doing for you."

"Michelle Tanner?" A blond haired, hazel eyed nurse in pink scrubs called out as she knocked on the door and entered the room. Michelle nodded apprehensively as she looked up at the nurse's name tag, which read '_Angela'_ , a last name she couldn't pronounce, and her job title _'Radiology Nurse'._

"Hi Michelle." Angela greeted warmly and the eight year old waved a shy 'hello'.

Angela talked to Michelle and Danny and explained the radiation treatments in details that both would understand and escorted them to the Radiology department.

"Here, put these on." Angela instructed, handing them lead aprons to protect their bodies from the radiation when they reached the room.

Michelle's eyes wandered around, finally focusing on a huge machine with a table sticking out of it. She clung to Danny, terrified and wanting to leave.

"Michelle, it's okay. This isn't gonna hurt." Danny said, trying to reassure her.

"It's not?"

"Nope."

"Mr. Tanner, if it helps Michelle feel more comfortable, you're welcome to stay."

"I think that's a good idea."

"I think so too." Michelle chimed in. Angela showed her a therapy doll and put it on the table to demonstrate. She let Michelle pretend to be a nurse too, which she thought was very cool.

"What do you think, Michelle? You think you can do this the next time you come in here?" Danny asked.

"Yeah, I think I can manage. Thanks Angela."

"My pleasure." Angela took them back to their room, stating that she'd see them on Monday, and went to see her next patient.

* * *

_-July 28, Evening -_

Michelle flipped through the channels, mildly frustrated to find that there were no cartoons or children's movies on. Sighing, she kept flipping until she found VH1. She was so focused on the music videos that she didn't notice at first when someone knocked on the door.

"Hey Munchkin!" A voice called to her, breaking her concentration. She looked up to see that her family had come to visit, besides Rebecca who stayed home with Nicky and Alex because they had a cold and she and Jesse agreed that it was best not to take them.

"Hi guys!" She smiled with delight as they walked towards her and showered her with hugs and kisses.

"Hey Michelle." Joey greeted in Bullwinkle's voice, his hands on the top of his head like antlers. Then his voice returned to normal as he said, "Glad to see you again."

"How are ya feelin', kiddo? Look what I brought ya." Jesse said as he opened a red tote bag and pulled out two medium-sized storage containers, one containing pasta mixed with a creamy alfredo sauce, chicken, and broccoli florets, and in the other container, a slice of double chocolate fudge cake with Oreo cookies.

"I'm much better. Thanks for the food. If I have to eat another hospital meal, I'm gonna go nuts!" Michelle opened the containers and happily began devouring her dinner.

"You're welcome, Michelle. Glad you're doing better." Stephanie replied, placing a hand on her little sister's back.

"Yeah, I'm glad too." D.J added with a smile. "Where's Dad?"

"Right here!" Danny replied, as he came out of the bathroom, drying his hands and tossing the paper towel into the nearest garbage can. He hugged everyone before sitting back in his chair.

The family enjoyed each others' company, talking and playing a few card games until visiting hours were over. They said their goodbyes to Michelle, then Joey, D.J, and Stephanie stepped out in the hallway. Only Jesse remained, deeply concerned for his brother-in-law's health and well-being.

"Daniel, don't take it the wrong way, but you look like crap." Jesse pointed out bluntly.

"Thanks for noticing." Danny acknowledged. His hair and clothing were unkempt, and bags had formed under his eyes from a lack of sleep.

"Why don't you go home and get some rest? I'll stay here with Michelle tonight."

"Are you sure, Jess?"

"Yeah, I'm sure."

"Michelle, Uncle Jesse's gonna stay with you. Is that alright?"

"Yes, Daddy. I'll be fine. You need your rest."

"Goodnight, my little princess." Danny said, giving her one last hug and kiss for the night and he tucked her into bed. He and Jesse sang '_Teddy Bear' _by Elvis Presley as they had done since she was an infant and she fell asleep.

Danny and the others left soon after and Jesse decided it was time for him to turn in for the night as well. He clicked off the TV, then he unfolded the roll-away bed and laid down, shifting around until he found a comfortable position and nodded off.

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_More soon!_


	3. Author's note!

Hi! This fic is now under new ownership and will not be continued on this account. I've tried to continue it, but it's wreaking havoc on my emotions so I feel that this is what's best. Sorry! I have other fics coming up eventually though.

Thanks!


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